Much food gets wasted in America each year. About 35 million tons of food gets wasted each year in America, which is a worrying trend as the amount gets increasing with time. Various forms of food get wasted all over the country. This ranges from the fruits, vegetables as well as the dairy products. The country wastes about 20% of all the fruits and vegetables that are produced, meaning that they don’t get to the table. Also, an amount of 20% of the dairy products gets wasted each year. Other forms of food that get wasted are the corns that are left in the fields without being harvested. The food attitude depends on the person under consideration. Most of the people readily afford food in America and therefore view the aspect of food as given. Therefore, they are not worried about any form of waster that might arise. On the other hand, some of the environmentally sensitive people feel that the environment is at risk due to food wastage. They, therefore, have an attitude of trying to save the environment from being induced into pollution and global warming due to the production of the methane gas. There are various sources of food wastage in America. First, the main wastage result from the culture of thinking that having food is given. It has been so for generations, and therefore people do not feel any problem having to waste food. Another source of food waste is the expiry of the food from industries in the process of preparing the same. As the products expire, most of the organizations consider throwing them away as they cannot be taken to the market. The high rate of mistakes in the organization destroys the flavors and other requirements of food, rendering it useless and probably of getting thrown away.
2. Food waste is harmful both financially and environmentally. It is harmful environmentally because it leads to the composition of the methane gas. In this regard, the methane gas becomes a menace in the global warming which is harmful to the future of the environment. On the other hand, food waste is harmful financially as it leads to the loss of much value. For instance, America wastes food worth $165 million each year. This is a great loss of money that could have been otherwise utilized in other development agendas. The more the food wastage, the slower the economic development rate remains.
3. There are various reasons for the high rate of food wastage. First, it is a culture among the Americans that food is given and thus will be available on the table at all times. Therefore, people feel no pain losing the available content. Also, there is so much wastage at the companies as well. The expiry rate is high as well as the rate of production mistakes, rendering the food unsuitable for consumption.
4. Other than diverting the food waste from the landfills, it can also be used to provide electricity. In this case, the methane gas can be collected and changed into electricity. This can then be used to supply energy in the homesteads. For instance, this has been attained in America, where about 32oo homes get their power supply from the waste food methane gas.
5. Various strategies are being put in place to reduce the level of food waste. One of the strategies applied include the harvesting of all products from the fields and feeding the less fortunate. In this case, the food that is undesirable which is likely to be left in the field is harvested and provided to the poor to feed. Also, Research is being carried out in various institutions such as Kansas University on the various suitable ways of reducing food wastage. The level of production could also be reduced to match the demand for food. Matching the supply of food to the supply would reduce the possibility of huge oversupply.
Conclusive insights from the film
Food wastage is a menace. The video depicted the various dangers presented by continued food wastage in America and across the world. I learned of the need to remain cautious about food wastage and devise better feeding habits to avoid such high levels of food wastage. I learnt to try and avoid food wastage at a personal level, to take part in global warming control and also enhance faster economic development.
